


I Can Be Your Soldier

by TheDarkNightsRun



Series: Super Top Secret Totally Awesome Project White [1]
Category: Pentagon (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - War, Alternate Universe - World War II, Badass Hyunggu, Badass Yuto, Beating, Enemies to Friends, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Explicit Language, Fighting Kink, Fluff, Government Experimentation, Happy Ending, Historical Inaccuracy, Light Angst, M/M, Military Backstory, Military Ranks, Minor Character Death, STSTAPW series, Secret Identity, Wartime Romance, Yang Hongseok Knows All, Yuno series sorta, Yuto get's knocked around a bit, but dont worry, but like with infiltration, but you have to squint to see it, it's a wild ride yall, theyre in a war how can there not be angst, theyre in a war they will curse a lot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-09
Updated: 2017-09-10
Packaged: 2018-12-25 13:43:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12037101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDarkNightsRun/pseuds/TheDarkNightsRun
Summary: War's tough. Yeah, Yuto knew that. What he didn't know was why he couldn't bring himself to kill the incredibly endearing enemy soldier he kept meeting.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this one like, six months ago, and I decided it's time to post it, because I'm tired of looking at it. This isn't apart of my Yuno series but I'm putting it there because they /do/ get together.
> 
> Disclaimer: some of the stuff in this won't make sense because even though I work at the World War II Museum and know what I'm talking about, I changed a few things about the war for the purposes of the story.
> 
> Anywhore, please enjoy, as always, and support Pentagon bc they deserve the universe.

“I got him,” Yuto said quietly to himself. He moved silently as he loaded his rifle and got down on his stomach between a patch of bushes. This was his job, this was what he’d trained for months to do. To shoot and kill the enemy. Nothing less.

He looked through the scope, lining up the enemy soldiers head for a perfect shot.

_I got him._

Yuto took a deep breath in, steadying his hands as he cocked his rifle and put his finger on the trigger. He found out a few days ago his rifle was getting old, the trigger was becoming less sensitive and it was jamming more often. Sadly, Yuto knew he was going to have to retire poor Edgar soon. Yes, he named his rifle Edgar after the great American poet Edgar Allan Poe. Yuto quite liked American literature, don’t judge him.

He watched the soldier slowly pick his way through the forest. He looked British, maybe even American. Yuto had a hard time differentiating where men he’d killed lately where from. Everyone seemed to be fighting the war now.

Yuto took another deep breath, holding it as he tensed his shoulders and pulled the trigger. Shit. It was jammed and rather than the telltale whistle of a sniper rifle filling the air, he heard a click as a gun was being cocked behind him.

Ah shit. Fucking again?

Third time this week Yuto had been caught off guard from behind.

“Get up.”

Yuto rolled his eyes and sighed. The man behind him was young by the sound of his voice, and Korean too, going by the thickness of his English accent. Yuto moved slowly, he knew exactly what he needed to do. This wasn’t his first rodeo.

He threw his rifle a few feet away and got to his knees, putting his hands behind his head at the same time. Boy, if he were a kinky guy, he’d _love_ getting in this position every time an enemy soldier found him.

He heard the Korean soldier move and watched him pick up Edgar out of the corner of his eye. He smirked, that’s a first. He would have to resort to Plan B if this guy didn’t lower his own rifle.

He didn’t.

Plan B it was, then.

Yuto exhaled heavily and waited for the soldier to move from behind him.

“You Japan?” The soldier asked in Japanese. His accent didn’t sound as thick this time.

Yuto nodded and raised his eyebrows, he needed to neutralize this soldier quickly and get the hell back to base camp before sundown. “Look man, as big of a fan as I am for foreplay, don’t keep me waiting. Shoot me or take me prisoner before my hair goes gray,” he said, grinning and tilting his head back to try and catch a glimpse of the man behind him. Rather than get mad and hit him, the soldier laughed loudly.

What the fuck?

He kept laughing. What was this guy doing? Others, Japanese or whatever country this soldier was fighting for, would hear him laughing and definitely want to investigate.

Yuto turned slightly to see if he had a madman behind him or an actual idiot.

Oh shit, he had neither of those. No, he had a God behind him. Jesus christ, Yuto had never seen a more attractive enemy soldier in his two years of war.

Damn. This was going to be a toughy to kill.

But he had to.

Yuto cleared his throat and finally turned all the way around to face the attractive giggling man dead on.

“What are you doing?” He asked incredulously.

The soldier snorted and held up a finger as he caught his breath. He was leaning forward with a hand propped on his knee for support, his gun still somehow pointing at Yuto.

Who the fuck was this guy?

The soldier laughed a bit more before he finally looked up, his deep dark eyes penetrating Yuto’s soul. “Sorry, sorry. I’ve caught like, twenty snipers before you and all of them have either shot themselves or gotten all snivelly and been like,” he stuck his hands out in mock-prayer, “‘Please don’t kill me, I have a wife and kids at home. Please don-’ before I shoot them, but not you.” The soldier’s demeanor turned serious, his shoulders squaring as he stood up straight and his eyes getting impossibly darker. “No... you’re different. You threw your rifle instead of try and shoot me when you realised I’d gotten you, why? That wasn’t very smart.”

Yuto smirked. Finally, someone as clever as him. He chuckled darkly and looked up at the enemy soldier. “You know why.” The soldier nodded and readjusted his grip on his gun. “Then you must also know I don’t plan on being taken prisoner,” Yuto said, his voice dripping with challenge.

The other soldier chuckled threateningly. “Of course, but if you’re as smart as you look, you already know I won’t let you get away alive.”

Yuto felt a burst of exhilaration in his chest. He was thrilled. This soldier was a worthy match for once, someone to give Yuto the challenge he’d been looking for.

Oh _fuck yes._

“Well… should we start then?” Yuto asked, cocking his eyebrow up as an invitation. Plan B was a go.

The soldier sniffed and looked around. If Yuto wasn't a man of honour, he'd have taken advantage of his dropped guard.

“Alright, I guess,” the enemy soldier said. He tossed his gun away, and cracked his knuckles. “Fair man’s fight, yeah?”

Yuto slowly got to his feet, rolling his shoulders and shaking out his muscles. “Sure, why not,” he said before lunging forward.

He punched quickly but with the intent to injure. If this soldier won, he would get away and give the enemy important strategic knowledge of Japanese positions.

The other soldier was fast, dodging half of Yuto’s punches and landing a few of his own along Yuto's upper body.

Shit, this was going to take longer than Yuto wanted.

Finally, Yuto’s fist landed on the other’s chest, connecting hard enough to push him back and cause him to fall.

They were both panting now. The enemy soldier was notably shorter and weaker than Yuto, but his stamina was incredible.

“You're good,” Yuto said between breaths.

The other man shrugged noncommittally. “What can I say, top of my class during basic training,” he said casually. How could he still be grinning? He was on his back, Yuto was standing over him, he should be worried for his life.

“Where’d you train? Couldn't have been in Korea, we conquered you before the war even started.”

He laughed and shrugged again. Then, before Yuto even knew what was happening, he twisted his body and kicked Yuto’s legs out from under him.

Fuck. Shit. Bitch. Ass. Goddamnit.

Yuto’s vision spun as he tried to look up at the soldier standing above him now. His head had hit the root of the tree they were under and he had landed painfully on his arm. _Shit_ that was going to be a bitch later.

“I trained with the Allies. You know, the ones _winning this war,_ ” the soldier said, leaning down over Yuto. He put his arm up against Yuto’s throat and pushed down on his windpipe.

Yuto felt himself begin to struggle for air. Goddamnit, this guy was good. And wrong.

“You're wrong, fucker,” Yuto rasped out before he brought his hands up and smacked the soldier on both ears, hard. “ _We’re_ winning the war.”

The enemy soldier yelped and released his hold on Yuto long enough for him to get his leg beneath himself and thrust up. The soldier fell to the side and before his could do anything, Yuto was on him, putting his legs on either side of his torso and sitting on his stomach.

The soldier laughed and held his hands up, palms facing the sky. How was he still laughing? Yuto was _literally_ on top of him.

“You're not too bad yourself,” he said, he put his hands down on Yuto’s thighs. “It's a little hot,” he grinned and winked up at Yuto.

“Maybe I should wait to kill you so we can have some fun together, hmm?” Yuto asked jokingly. The guy was more than attractive and any other day he'd go for it but this was a war. They were supposed to kill each other.

The soldier laughed again and locked eyes with Yuto before he leaned up and wrapped his arms around Yuto’s lower back. He turned his head so his mouth was brushing the shell of Yuto’s ear. “I'd love to do nothing more than that right now,” he whispered hotly.

Yuto gasped, the felt the heat of arousal sparking up in his stomach.

This was the enemy though, he couldn't. He _shouldn’t_.

He gripped the soldier's shoulders tightly and squeezed before pushing them down hard, forcing the soldier back and leaning in to whisper, “Is that an invitation?”

He felt the soldier turn his head and smirk against his cheek, “Is that a yes?” He ground his hips up against Yuto’s, eliciting another gasp Yuto was definitely ashamed of.

Shit what was Yuto doing? He was a soldier, this was the enemy, one of them needed to die.

Yuto sat up and pushed down harder on the soldier’s shoulder with one hand, raising the other in a fist. He was ready to punch the enemy soldier, looking him in the eyes and trying to get his breath back.

“Well? Which is it? You going to punch me or kiss me?”

Yuto sat there and gazed into the other soldier’s dark eyes while he breathed heavily, his fist still raised.

He needed to knock the soldier out before he could grab his rifle and shoot him in. He needed to _be a soldier_.

The other soldier didn't say anything; just steadily looked at Yuto with a heated gaze. Yuto closed his mouth, and breathed through his nose.

He needed to be clear headed and not be turned on for this decision.

He needed to be a soldier. And he was a soldier.

Without letting himself think, Yuto punched the enemy soldier in the face hard enough to render him unconscious. He lurched for his rifle and stood up as he cocked it and aimed. He put his finger on the trigger and-

And did nothing.

He couldn't kill him, even if he was the enemy. He just couldn't do it.

He put his finger on the trigger again and took a breath, trying to convince himself to pull it and be on his way….

Fuck.

He put his rifle down and sighed to himself. He could take the soldier back to base camp as a prisoner yes, but he knew what the prison camps were like. They were almost as bad as the ones the Germans ran, especially for those from other Asian countries.

Yuto looked up at the clear blue sky and prayed he was making the right decision, that this wouldn't come back to bite him in the ass. He turned back down to look at the incredibly attractive soldier, taking in the features of his face before grabbing both their packs and running off towards base camp.

God, he hoped he wouldn't regret this decision later.

…….

“Hey, Yuto,” Yuta whispered. Yuto turned his head distractedly as he kept his eyes on the horizon for any enemy troops. “Pack of smokes for whoever gets more kills today?”

Yuto chuckled, “Alright. You're on, fucker.”

They went quiet again.

Yuto heard a branch snap and some rustling in the bushes below. He moved to find the source of the noise, looking through his scope, taking a deep breath as he put his finger on the trigger.

There. The moonlight glinted off a helmet and he squeezed the trigger, watching the bullet fly through the air, straight into his target with deadly precision. He put his head down and listened to the men shouting on the ground. They couldn't see him from his position in the tree, he could pick them off easily.

Yuta fired a shot from the tree blind next to him, and another enemy soldier went down. The troops below them were panicking now, shouting to each other in English.

Yuto saw another glint of a helmet and fired. Then another helmet, and another bullet.

He heard the men on the ground fire their own guns in random directions, a few bullets hitting trees around him.

Yuta was firing systematically along with Yuto, taking the troops out one by one.

Then something happened. Yuto didn't know how but suddenly Yuta cried out and wasn't in his tree anymore. Yuto heard a thud and he took his finger off the trigger.

Everything was quiet.

“I think we've got ‘im, sir,” a young voice shouted. British.

Yuto’s blood ran cold.

“Kang, you shot him, go check if he’s dead. And be careful, there could be more,” an old, gruff voice responded.

Oh god, Yuta.

Yuto heard movement on the ground. A soldier stopped just below Yuta’s tree and shuffled around.

“He’s dead, sir. Bullet to the head,” the soldier responded. Wait, that voice.

“Great, you stay here and search the body. If anyone else comes, shoot the bastards. We’ll move on ahead. Let's go boys,” the gruff voice said. Only a few soldiers began moving, Yuto and Yuta had shot a considerable amount of them.

Yuto was breathing hard now. Yuta was dead.

Yuta was dead.

Yuta was dead and Yuto was helpless to do anything about it.

He heard the soldier below rummage around Yuta’s body. He had to wait for him to leave before he could go down there, and if he fired a shot the others would come back.

Yuto tried to control his breathing. Yuta was dead, fuck. Yuto didn't know what he was going to do, he grew up with him, and now he was gone.

Yuto wiped at his eyes to clear the tears away and tried not to make any sound at all. He couldn't process the fact that Yuta was dead. He couldn't process anything. He felt numb and he _kept hearing the sound of Yuta’s body hitting the ground._

The soldier on the ground sighed, and walked away. Yuto waited long after everything was silent before he climbed down his tree to run over to Yuta laying on the ground.

He whimpered. He let his tears fall freely as he kneeled down next to Yuta’s body, and dragged him to lean against his chest.

“Oh god, I'm so sorry,” he gasped out. He couldn't stop crying. He couldn't think, he couldn't feel, but he needed to move. Other soldiers would be coming through here again soon.

Yuto held back a sob and tried to close Yuta’s eyes, but they kept rolling open to reveal that lifeless, immortal stare of the dead.

The bushes a few feet away rustled. Yuto didn’t even bother to look up. Let the fuckers come, they'd feel exactly what Yuta felt when he put a bullet in their skulls.

“Well, I must've been pretty mistaken when I said you were smart.”

The soldier from last time.

Fuck, Yuto should've known. Only the attractive soldier from last time would be observant enough to realise Yuta wasn't the only sniper up there, and crazy enough to come back.

“You killed him,” Yuto held his gaze on Yuta’s boots.

The soldier walked into Yuto’s eyeline and shrugged as he kneeled down next to Yuta’s motionless feet. “Had to. Orders from the sergeant, couldn't go against them,” he said. His gun was hanging by his side, and he seemed comfortable that Yuto wouldn't attack him.

Yuto pulled Yuta’s body closer to him and closed his eyes to keep from crying more.

The other soldier let him fall silent, and looked in the direction his unit had headed in. After a few minutes he turned back to Yuto and asked, “who was he?”

Yuto’s eyes shot up to glare at him with wet eyes. “What's it to you?”

The soldier sighed, and moved to sit cross legged while he held up an innocent hand. “I’m just curious, but you don't have to answer if you don't want to.”

Yuto huffed, and buried his nose in Yuta’s dirty hair. He needed to calm down before he could carry the body back to base camp.

The other soldier was just sitting there though, playing with the dirt by his feet as if he wasn't next to the enemy and the man he just killed. He seemed almost friendly.

“He’s my brother…” Yuto whispered. He shouldn't have been sharing information like that but this man felt trustworthy despite everything; like they had known each other for years, and not just from one interaction Yuto was now regretting a month back.

The soldier’s eyes widened, and he looked at Yuto with sadness and regret. “Oh my god, I'm so sorry…”

Yuto scoffed, “Sorry? You're _sorry_ ?” The soldier flinched at Yuto’s sudden unforgiving tone. “You kill my brother and you're _sorry_ ?” Yuto felt rage fill his chest now. He wasn't sad anymore, he was fucking furious. This man shot his brother out of a tree blind. Searched his brother’s dead body for supplies. And had the _nerve_ to act comfortable around Yuto.

No, fuck that.

This guy was going to fucking die, and Yuto would be the one to kill him.

He rested Yuta’s body back down on the ground and stood up, pulling his rifle up and pointing it at the soldier's forehead.

The enemy soldier’s eyes were still wide, and his lip was quivering as he held his hands up.

“I am so sorry. You have no idea how horrible I feel,” his voice trembled, tears pooled in his eyes.

“You're sorry?” Yuto almost shouted before he laughed ruefully. “You feel horrible?” He moved forward and pressed the tip of his rifle hard against the soldier's head. “You think I have no idea how horrible you feel? You think I really give a shit?” Tears slid down the soldiers cheeks, forming paths in the dirt and grime on his face. “Do you have any idea how _I_ feel right now?”

Yuto was full on yelling now but he didn't care. The other soldier hiccuped and whimpered.

“I know how you feel. My father-”

“Your father? Your father what, was bravely shot down by a couple of Nazis?” Yuto pressed the barrel of his rifle harder into the soldier's forehead, making him wince.

“No, my father was shot in the head for abandonment,” the other soldier said. His voice was serious, and any proof of him crying was only in his eyes.

Yuto was taken aback. That wasn't the same as a brother getting shot, but goddamn. This guy was a real oddball. Yuto didn't know what to say.

The other soldier was breathing heavily from the tears, and the look in his eyes was one of pure, unadulterated guilt.

Yuto put his finger on the trigger, and pressed the barrel so hard into the soldier's head until he grunted in pain.

He should kill him now, for Yuta.

But he couldn't. Again. His finger was on the trigger and he was angry about Yuta’s death beyond belief, but he couldn't pull it. He couldn't shoot the bastard. Why couldn’t he shoot him?

“I understand if you shoot me, but please,” the soldier cautiously reached down to his pocket, and shakily pulled out a letter, holding it up to Yuto. “Please deliver this to my mother and brother. I don't trust the British army to do it if I die, and I'd rather someone competent hold on to it.”

Yuto looked at the letter, then back to the soldier's face. He was genuinely asking Yuto for a favour if he shot him. The look in his deep eyes was intense, and Yuto couldn't hold his stare anymore. He let out a breath and deflated, all anger and vengeance suddenly gone.

He lowered his rifle, and gestured the direction the other British soldiers had gone in. “Go,” he said.

The other man didn't move at first, his mouth was open in shock, and he looked at Yuto with wide, surprised eyes.

Yuto pointed at the woods again. “Go,” he said, more forcefully this time.

The soldier stood up slowly, tucking the letter back into his pocket, but didn't move from there.

Yuto sighed and lifted his rifle, pointing it at the soldier's chest this time. “I said go!” He yelled angrily.

The soldier jumped at Yuto’s outburst and ran off, looking over his shoulder one last time before he disappeared through the trees.

Yuto let out a heavy breath, and turned back to Yuta’s body.

This was going to be one of the longest walks back to base camp he'd ever had.

........

Yuto sputtered and coughed, folding in on himself as another kick hit his stomach. He felt his insides churn, the little oxygen he managed to get between kicks be forced out of his lungs with a whoosh. He’d been captured, and they weren’t treating him with any mercy.

At this point, it would be better if he were dead.

The American forces were overriding parts of Japanese territory, taking Yuto’s generals by surprise, and causing many of his comrades to resort to suicide rather than capture. But Yuto didn't believe in that.

He wasn't going to fight for four years just to put a bullet in his mouth. If he was taken prisoner, so be it. And then he was.

He had been shot in the leg, and fallen out of a tree blind to be surrounded by a bunch of angry Americans. None of them showed him any kindness, except for one. Yuto hadn't been sure what to think of the Asian-American soldier, but now he knew he was a fucking wimp.

The Asian-American soldier hadn't been like the attractive one Yuto had already met twice. He was bigger and stronger and spoke enough Japanese to be able to communicate with Yuto for his crapulent American general. When they'd brought Yuto to a camp, he translated for him, and lead him around for a less than exciting tour.

Yuto had began to think this soldier would get as comfortable with him as the other, cuter one, but nope. Americans didn't work that way apparently. Yuto was quietly sleeping in the wooden cubby they’d assigned him when shouting had woken him up, and he was haphazardly dragged out into the muddy centre square of the camp with the overseeing general following close behind.

“Yuto Adachi!” The crapulent general, whose voice Yuto’d already gotten tired of hearing, had yelled. Yuto rolled his eyes, and got to his feet before raising his hand in a mock salute.

“Yes, sir,” he’d said. He had leveled the crapulent general with a stare, and smirked at the anger his action had caused swelling in the man’s beet red face.

The general had huffed, turned around, shouted something at the nice-but-not-the-cute-one Korean soldier, and looked at Yuto again. Then he shouted, “Yuto Adachi, you have been disrespectful, uncooperative, and, in my opinion, a real pain in my ass. Sergeant Yang here,” he’d thrust his meaty finger toward the soldier, “is going to put you back in your place.”

Yuto had thought it would be okay to raise an eyebrow, and wink at the Korean soldier but no. The crapulent general’s nostrils had flared, and he’d brought his massive fist up to connect hard with Yuto’s face.

And that was how Yuto had ended up getting the shit beat out of him by the Korean soldier in the middle of a dingy, dilapidated prison camp. 

Yuto felt his mouth fill with blood, and spit it out onto the mud as the soldier kicked him in the stomach again. Despite himself, Yuto began to laugh. He was a prisoner with a bullet in his leg and fighting for a losing country, and the general was afraid of him. Maybe he’d finally figured out who Yuto was.

He felt a sharp pain to the back of his head as someone -not the Korean soldier but some other soldier- kicked him, and the world shook. He had to close his eyes and wait for everything to stop spinning and the pain to dull as he groaned and pressed his nose into the mud.

Slowly, he regained his bearings, and brought his arms up to brace himself against the ground. The soldier stopped kicking him, and all he heard was the crapulent general chuckling a few feet away.

“Had enough, Adachi?” The general taunted. Christ, Yuto hated that man. If he could do anything he wanted right now, it would be castrating that lobster of an American with the rusty knife he used to shave his patchy ass beard with.

Yuto pushed himself up enough to spit the blood from his mouth and catch his breath. The Korean soldier didn't do anything, and stood back to wait for the general’s next orders. What a good little soldier he was, so unlike the attractive one Yuto couldn't stop thinking about.

“Yang! Hit him again,” the general shouted. Yuto saw the soldier move towards him and raise his leg, but before he could lower it for a kick to Yuto’s back, Yuto sat up, grabbed him by the foot. and twisted. 

The soldier's eyes widened as he lost his balance and flipped down onto the mud beside Yuto.

Yuto glared at the general, “Actually sir, I have had enough.”

The crapulent general's eyes burned, and Yuto could have sworn he saw smoke come out of his ears. The general stormed towards him, holding Yuto’s glare as he grabbed him by the hair and pulled him into a standing position. Yuto felt the general’s breath on his face and nearly gagged at the smell of alcohol.

“Now you listen to me, you little son of a bitch,” the general said, his tone low with malice. He brought his pistol up, and thrust it against the bottom of Yuto’s chin as he cocked it. “ _ I _ run this fucking camp,  _ you  _ are a prisoner here, and you listen to what _ I say! _ You got that?!?” He shouted in Yuto’s face.

Yuto kept his smirk up, and didn't say anything. He refused to back down to the fires of fury burning in the general's eyes. 

The general huffed, and threw him back on the ground before stalking off. “Yang! Take this motherfucker to the cages. Make sure he regrets ever crawling out of the sorry bitch he came from!” He shouted to the Korean soldier, who was still laying in the mud and looking at Yuto in disbelief.

Three days Yuto had been in that camp. Three days was all it took for him to piss off the man in charge and get the shit beat out of him.

He chuckled quietly to himself as Sergeant Yang picked him up off the mud, and half carried half dragged him to the far end of the camp.

“You shouldn't piss him off like that,” Yang said quietly in Japanese.

Yuto scoffed, glancing at him with his non-swollen eye. “Why not? He's an imbecile,” he mumbled.

Sergeant Yang sighed, and draped Yuto’s arm over his shoulder, hoisting him up so he could get his feet under himself to walk. “So what? Even if he can't kill you, he can sure as hell try.”

That made Yuto chuckle. Yeah, the American prison camps weren't allowed to outright kill the prisoners, but that bastard had the power to make Yuto wish he was dead.

They didn't say anything more as Sergeant Yang walked Yuto to a row of cages standing along the back wall of the camp, far away from the barracks, offices, and trees so there was no break from the burning sun on a clear day. 

“Who’s this, Hongseok-hyung?” Someone asked in English. Yuto’s heart skipped a beat at the sound of the voice.  _ That  _ voice.

It was him. The attractive soldier who’d been haunting Yuto’s dreams. The soldier who’d killed his brother.

The soldier he couldn't kill.


	2. Chapter 2

Yuto felt a mix of emotions fill his chest when the soldier came walking up to stand in front of them.

“Oh, Hyunggu, I thought you were still on the front,” Sergeant Yang- Hongseok- said.

The other soldier hesitated, and glanced at Yuto leaning heavily against Hongseok. Yuto saw his gaze linger for a moment, as if he recognised him but couldn't remember where from, then he looked back at Sergeant Yang as he said something in Korean.

Wow, what a dick. He didn't remember Yuto? The man who let him live  _ twice _ , even after he killed his brother? Asshole.

Yuto made a face at the soldier. He knew the fuckers name now though, that was something. When Yuta had been killed, he’d thought he’d heard his name was Kang, but he wasn't sure. That whole day was a blur in all honesty, and it had been almost 6 months since.

Hyunggu.

_ What an adorable name for such an adorable person, _ Yuto mused.

The two Korean soldiers laughed about something Hongseok had said, and Yuto’s heart fluttered at the sound of Hyunggu’s giggle, and the sight of his open smile. It was so pure and innocent, something Yuto hadn't seen since before the war. It felt refreshing.

Yuto leaned against Hongseok as he watched Hyunggu. The way he talked, laughed, smiled… everything about him was so unexplainably different from any other meathead soldier Yuto had encountered during the war, and he loved it.

Ah fuck.

Yuto’s working eye widened, and he quickly looked away when he realised he was smiling along with Hyunggu and his chest was filling with an emotion he dared not identify.

Shit. This wasn't going to be good.

“Hey, Prisoner 627, what's your name?” Hyunggu suddenly asked in Japanese, waving his hand in front of Yuto’s face to get his attention.

Yuto looked up and glanced at Sergeant Yang, who nodded and gestured for him to respond.

“Adachi. Adachi Yuto,” he said. Damn, his voice was scratchy from coughing up so much blood and he was sure his teeth didn't look too nice either. Way to make a good impression.

But then again, Yuto reminded himself, he  _ did  _ consider having sex with this guy  _ and _ cried in front of him.

Hyunggu smirked, and reached into his pocket to pull out a piece of cloth. He pinned it to the breast of Yuto’s blood and dirt stained shirt before turning back to Hongseok and saying something in Korean again.

Sergeant Yang’s eyes widened comically. He exclaimed something that could only mean, “what?!?”

Hyunggu nodded, and put his hands in his pockets nonchalantly. He waited for Hongseok to stop speaking in rushed Korean to calmly explain himself.

Yuto’s brows scrunched. What was going on? He was more than lost and he was actually starting to feel a lot of pain in his ribs so he really just wanted to lay down.

After a few minutes of Hongseok worriedly conversing with a considerably calm Hyunggu, they finally looked to Yuto.

“Mr Adachi, Corporal Kang is going to take you to your cag- uh cell from here. If you didn't piss the general off too much back there, I'll be the one to take you back to your bunk when he decides to let you out,” Sergeant Yang said, slightly hesitantly. He looked at Hyunggu worriedly again before helping Yuto stand on his own.

“Thanks, Sergeant Yang,” Yuto said and half assedly saluted Hongseok as he slowly stepped away, still staring at Hyunggu as if he were about to make the biggest mistake of his life.

When he was gone, Yuto looked back to Hyunggu.

Hyunggu was already looking at him, a mix of amusement and something else in his eyes as he smiled at Yuto.

“Well, looks like our situations have been reversed, huh?” Hyunggu said teasingly. So he did recognise Yuto.

Yuto huffed and ignored the pain in his ribs as he limped closer the Hyunggu. “I wouldn't say that yet,” he muttered, playing along with the tease.

Hyunggu laughed and turned to walk Yuto to one of the cages. “Well, if you think you’re going to have to spare my life again in here, a prison camp in which you are a prisoner, then I will suck your dick when that happens,” he said lightly.

The comment made Yuto stumble and groan as a shot of pain ran through the left side of his ribs. Yep, at least one was definitely broken. Hyunggu glanced back and laughed louder.

“You must be pretty confident no one else here speaks Japanese to say things like that,” Yuto said through the quick breaths he was taking to help the pain subside.

“Oh yeah, most definitely,” Hyunggu said happily. He stopped walking and turned around to wait for Yuto to catch up. “Hongseok-hyung and I are the only two here who speak Korean, Japanese, and English. That's why they keep us around, because their sorry asses can't be bothered to learn the language of the enemy.”

As Yuto got closer, he noticed new scars on Hyunggu’s face. The last time he'd seen him, he only had a scar on his cheek from a bullet graze. Now he had more tiny ones spread out all along his cheeks and jaw, one went straight down across his eye and another made it look like his soft lips weren't closed all the way.

Yuto wanted to ask about them, but he knew it would be wrong if he did. They were enemies, they couldn't keep acting like they were friends.

Hyunggu’s eyes twinkled when Yuto met his gaze, and he turned around to continue walking to the cage at the very end, next to the wooden border wall. Yuto felt his cheeks flush and he cursed himself for blushing.

He was merely infatuated with the soldier. Nothing more. It would go away soon, and he'd finally be able to kill him.

Although, the thought of killing Hyunggu no longer sat well with Yuto, even when he forced himself to ignore it.

“Here we are, home sweet home,” Hyunggu said cheerfully. He grabbed the bars of the cage in the corner and pulled the door open for Yuto with a flourish. Yuto looked inside with a raised eyebrow, then turned to Hyunggu in disbelief. Hyunggu’s smile fell and he let out an annoyed breath, “yeah, I know. It's shitty, and I wish General Curtis didn't make us put you guys in these things, but we have to."

Yuto looked at the bottom of the cage again. It was covered in straw with a small piece of dirty cloth laying on the ground, presumably to be used as a blanket, and a small bowl of murky water. 

He sighed. Well, this would be fun.

He stepped in and sat down carefully, trying not to agitate his ribs any more than he had to.

Hyunggu waited for him to get comfortable before he closes the cage door and locked it with a key on a string around his neck. 

Yuto perked up. Was this guy really that dumb? He basically just showed Yuto how escape the cage.

Hyung was starting to walk away when he stopped and turned around. He looked at Yuto for a second, as if judging whether he should say something or not.

Yuto mentally kicked himself for stupidly hoping he was going to say something sweet or romantic. But he didn't, because why would he, first of all?

Instead he said, “careful leaning against the wood on that wall next to you… it comes loose easily.” Then he walked off, lowering his head as if nothing had happened.

Yuto’s mind was reeling. What was Hyunggu doing? Showing him exactly how to escape was a bad idea, he could be shot for treason if anyone found out. 

Yuto carefully laid down on his right side and pulled the piece of cloth up to cover his head from the sun.

He needed to heal before he could begin making plans for escape.

And Yuto must've really made the general mad because by the time a nurse had come to reset his ribs and take the bullet out of his leg and he’d fully healed, he was still living in the cage.

He’d lost count of how many days he was in there, but he knew it was a lot judging by the way he treated the straw floor of the cage as a home.

Hyunggu would come every morning with a smile and a poor excuse of breakfast, and sit down outside of Yuto’s cage to ramble about nothing while Yuto ate. Then he'd come again after sundown, sometimes smiling, sometimes not, with another poor excuse of dinner, and sit down again. Yuto guessed it depended on what kind of day Hyunggu had had for him to talk while he ate dinner. Those were really the only times Yuto had any human interaction though, and he found himself grateful for them.

One night when Hyunggu hadn’t seemed to be feeling very talkative as he looked up at the stars, Yuto had put down his empty tray and looked at him. Hyunggu had looked over at the sound of the tray hitting the floor of the cage and smiled weakly at Yuto.

“Why do you talk to me?” Yuto had asked. He cringed slightly at his abrasive tone and looked at Hyunggu apologetically.

Hyunggu had let out a breath of air as he shrugged. “I like practicing my Japanese” he'd said but then he looked down sadly.

“No you don't” Yuto said knowingly. Hyunggu hadn't looked like that in all the time Yuto knew him, not even when he’d unwittingly killed Yuto’s brother. 

Hyunggu had chuckled and given in. “Honestly, I don't know…” he looked back up at the stars and sighed. “I guess because I like you…” he'd said quietly. So quietly Yuto sometimes thought he'd imagined it.

But he still remembered the way his heart had began to beat harder when Hyunggu had said that. Some days it was the only reason he didn't try to escape yet.

And he still hated himself for quietly thinking  _ I like you too  _ whenever he thought about that moment.

He hadn't decided he was going to wait as long as he could to escape until a night just a few days ago, a night he was sure he'd never forget.

Hyunggu hadn't come with his dinner yet, and Yuto was leaning against the bars of his cage to try and catch some glimpse of him around the rest of the camp.

As the moon climbed higher in the sky, Yuto had grown more and more worried to the point where he couldn't deny it. He liked Hyunggu more than he should. He hadn't realised he’d been drifting off to sleep while leaning against the bars until suddenly there was a loud clang that jolted him awake.

Yuto had acted on impulse then, jumping up and holding out his fists to fight anyone off. But then he heard Hyunggu’s hearty laugh and a weight he hadn't realised was there lifted off his chest.

“Jesus fuck, you scared the shit out of me,” Yuto had said as he lowered his fists and took steadying breaths to calm down his racing heart.

Hyunggu had laughed harder at that and sat down in front of the cage, motioning for Yuto to do the same as he slid a plate of food in. “You have to admit that was pretty funny though,” he said, still giggling slightly.

Yuto had rolled his eyes and picked up the food, spooning a bit into his mouth and ignoring the taste.

They had fallen silent after that. Yuto ate while Hyunggu either picked at his nails, looked up at the stars, or watched Yuto eat with a look that made Yuto’s heart race.

When Yuto had finished eating, Hyunggu took the plate from him, but didn't leave like he usually would. Instead he had sat there, still staring at Yuto with that incredible look in his eyes.

Yuto hadn't known what to do so he cleared his throat and asked, “why were you late tonight?”

Hyunggu had raised an eyebrow and grinned coyly but the look was still there as he said, “oh, so you noticed.” Yuto nodded shyly and Hyunggu shifted into a more comfortable position. “Well, I was in a meeting with the general. Apparently I'm being promoted to Staff Sergeant.” Hyunggu’s grin turned into a beaming smile and Yuto felt his heart burst with pride for him.

“Oh my god, that's amazing!” Yuto had exclaimed and without thinking he lurched forward and threw his arms around Hyunggu through the bars of the cage. “I'm happy for you,” he had muttered as he turned his head and felt his nose brush the tips of Hyunggu’s hair.

Hyunggu was laughing happily and put his arms through the bars to hug Yuto back. Yuto had felt Hyunggu turn his head too and nose at his dirt caked hair slightly. 

The bars of the cage were far enough apart they could get their faces through, but not enough for anyone even as skinny as Yuto to fit through. They were a real cock block in Yuto’s opinion that night, and they continued to piss him off as Hyunggu got more confident with their skinship.

Although he had been promoted to Staff Sergeant and could easily go back to the front if he wanted to, he still looked after the prisoners being held in the cages and made sure Yuto was taken care of.

According to Hongseok, who had brought Yuto his breakfast instead of Hyunggu yesterday morning, the general was more than ready to let Yuto rot in the cage until the war was won. And apparently, Hyunggu had been skipping out on his more important and relevant duties to come and sit with Yuto.

At that point, Yuto gave up on pretending his crush on Hyunggu was just an infatuation because he felt giddy at the thought of Hyunggu taking time out of his schedule just to see him.

Hongseok hadn't said anything about the way Yuto knew he was blushing or Yuto’s shy smile, he'd just raised a questioning eyebrow and left with a quiet goodbye.

Now Yuto was… bored. As always. He had nothing to do in this cage besides work on his tan and count the number of spiders he killed per day.

Well, there was one thing he did that could be considered productive. When no one was around, he leaned against the side of the cage touching the wall of the camp’s border. The wood there wasn't completely attached and if he ever got the opportunity to escape, all he had to do was kick a few boards out and be on his way, but first he had to weaken them enough. Even if they were flimsily attached to the rest of the wall, the nails were still deep enough to make a lot of noise when kicked away, and Yuto couldn't have that, now could he?

“Hey, Adachi!” Someone yelled from a few feet away.

Yuto slowly opened his eyes and looked up from where he was pushing on one of the wood planks. Hongseok, Hyunggu, and the ever so red, crapulent general were marching toward his cage. Yuto’s mouth began to twitch up into the cheeky smirk he knew would make the general angrier than he already was but then he saw Hyunggu and Hongseok’s faces.

Fuck, this couldn't be good.

Yuto forced himself to grin even though his heart was dropping and dread was creeping into his stomach. “Mr General, sir. To what do I owe the pleasure?” He asked in English, pushing confidence into his voice. He stood up and crossed his arms over his chest to look at least a little bit like the elite soldier he was.

The general was puffing for air when he stopped in front of Yuto’s cage. He started chuckling darkly and pointed his sausage like finger at Yuto accusingly. “You,  _ Lieutenant General  _ Adachi, have been confirmed by your Japanese Emperor as dead,” the general chuckled happily and Yuto felt his blood run cold. How did the general find out his rank? Did the general know who he was? “You know what that means, Adachi?” The general asked, leering at Yuto from under his bushy eyebrows with beady eyes.

“Oh fuck…” Yuto gasped. If the Emperor himself declared Yuto dead, he was useless to the American army, even if he was of such a high ranking. Even if they knew what his mission was. 

“Oh yes,” the general said giddily, “you can die here, and no one will care!” The general burst out laughing and had the lean against the cage so he wouldn't fall over.

Yuto looked at Hyunggu and Hongseok with wide eyes. Hongseok looked back with a solemn expression and an apology in his gaze, but Hyunggu wasn't looking at him. No, Hyunggu was glaring at the laughing general with pure hatred in his eyes. He was visibly holding back rage, but Yuto could see the determination in there too.

Hyunggu was planning something, Yuto just knew it.

The crapulent general caught his breath and stood up straight again, still smiling and looking at Yuto like he was cattle being prepared for slaughter. Then he leaned in and pushed his face against the bar, getting as close to Yuto as he could. “I'll  _ gladly  _ see to it that that happens soon,” the general said menacingly, threat dripping off his tone. 

Hongseok and Hyunggu straightened as the general flung himself around, and waited for him to storm off until following. Hyunggu finally looked at Yuto just before turning away, leveling him with a deep stare, saying so many things with just his dark eyes.

Yuto gaped when Hyunggu’s eyes pointedly flicked to the wood planks of the wall and back to him. He understood what he was saying, but he didn't like it.

Hyunggu was going to help him escape.

The only question was when.

Actually, that question was rather quickly answered a few days later on the night before Yuto was to, in the general's words, “help out on the artillery testing field.”

If that wasn't already a sign Yuto was going to ‘accidentally’ get shot, he didn't know what was.

Well, maybe if the general wanted him to clean the gas chamber they never used. It was apart of the camp when the American army took it from the Nazis. Yuto had to ask Hongseok about it. 

Yuto was enjoying his last night in the cage though, he wasn't sure exactly how but he knew Hyunggu would do something to get him out. He just hoped Hyunggu wouldn't get hurt in the process.

He was leaning against the wood planks again, they were getting considerably weaker after the amount of time Yuto had been pushing at them and if he was lucky, he would just have to lightly hit them to get them to move.

Yuto heard footsteps rushing towards his cage and looked away from the stars to see who it was.

Hongseok? What was he doing here?

“Yuto,” Hongseok whispered harshly when he reached the bars of Yuto’s cage. He was breathing heavily from running and sweat had soaked through the white undershirt he was wearing. Yuto stood up and stepped closer to Hongseok. “We don’t have much time, the general’s making Hyunggu to stay with him while he celebrates for tomorrow. We think he’s starting to suspect something. Here, this is from Hyunggu,” Hongseok held up the key to the lock on the cage door and handed it to Yuto. “He wants you to hold on to this and wait for the signal.”

Yuto took the key by the string and put it around his neck, tucking it into his shirt. “What signal?”

“He didn't say, he just said you’ll know it when you see it,” Hongseok shrugged and looked around to make sure no one was coming. “I need to go before the general gets suspicious. Be careful Yuto, Hyunggu seems to think highly of you and is willing to stick his neck out to keep you alive.”

Yuto breathed out a puff of air and smiled sadly, “We have a long history...”

Hongseok nodded and stepped away from the bars, “I know, he told me...” He turned to leave but before he could run back the way he came, Yuto stopped him.

“Wait, Sergeant Yang. Why are you helping me?” He asked.

Hongseok smiled and shrugged. “You remind me of my brother Wooseok, he's nineteen too… and you have a pure heart, I can tell,” he said, making Yuto look down at the compliment. “Oh, and Yuto,” Hongseok waited for Yuto to look back up, “call me hyung, yeah?”

Yuto smiled and chuckled despite the situation, he felt warm from the friendship he and Hongseok had somehow developed. “Of course. Good luck, hyung,” he said quietly. 

He watched Hongseok run off again before he pulled the key out from his shirt and looked at it. He could go now if he wanted, he could use the key and push the planks out of the way and be off as if he were never there. 

But Hyunggu. He had to wait for Hyunggu.

Yuto sighed impatiently and paced around the cage.

What the fuck could the signal be? And how the fuck would he know what it was?

Yuto paced back and forth around the cage for longer than he liked. He felt sick with anxiety and worry. What if the General accused Hyunggu of being close to him and something bad happened? What if Yuto just left now, while no one was around, and Hyunggu would be found out trying to send the signal, whatever it was?

All kinds of ‘what ifs’ were running around Yuto’s brain and he couldn't think.

He heard footsteps walking quickly toward his cage, and rushed to see who it was.

“Hyunggu,” he sighed, relief filling his chest as he smiled and grabbed on to the bars.

Hyunggu came up and stood close to the bars, looking at Yuto intensely. “Did Hongseok-hyung give you the key?” He asked quietly.

Yuto nodded, and pulled it out from his shirt.

Hyunggu sighed and looked around. “He must have told you the general’s onto us. He's never been comfortable with us speaking Korean to each other but now he's especially suspicious when we talk to you in Japanese… Yuto, he's going to have you killed tomorrow, you know that, right?”

“Yeah, having me help out at the gun range doesn't exactly ring subtle,” Yuto said with a roll of his eyes.

Hyunggu huffed a laugh and stepped even closer, wrapping his hands around Yuto’s own on the bars. Yuto’s breath caught in his throat. He looked down into Hyunggu’s dark eyes, they expressed so much of his soul and revealed more to Yuto than he could say. The world was suddenly still, everything silent as if holding its breath in anticipation for what might happen next.

But Yuto couldn't let it happen. He was a soldier, he should kill Hyunggu. But he couldn't bring himself to kill Hyunggu, and he definitely couldn't let himself kiss him. He was really stuck between a rock and a hard place with this guy.

“Hongseok-hyung said you would have a signal ready?” Yuto whispered quietly.

Hyunggu blinked slowly, like he was coming out of a trance before he looked down and cleared his throat. “U-um yeah. Well, uh, fuck the signal, honestly. I was going to have someone send you a letter and have it say ‘send to my mother and brother’ but yeah, no. I wanted to come down here and see you before you left.”

Yuto laughed at that. He knew he would've understood the message if Hyunggu had sent it, but he was much more happy he’d come down to see him himself.

“Can I go now?” Yuto asked, pointing to the wood planks he had pushed.

Hyunggu looked up at the moon, then down at his watch, then around them. “Yeah, I’d say so. The night watch isn't coming around this side for another hour so we’ve got time,” he said casually, shrugging as if they weren't about to have a prison break. 

Yuto’s heart skipped when Hyunggu said ‘we’ and he smiled. He took the key from around his neck and handed it to Hyunggu, who took it and unlocked the cage door. Yuto took a deep breath before he pushed the door open and stepped out for the first time in god knew how long.

Hyunggu giggled when Yuto stepped into a power stance and fully stretched his muscles, relishing in the satisfying pops his bones made. 

“So,  _ Lieutenant General  _ Adachi Yuto, you ready for freedom?” Hyunggu asked teasingly.

Yuto laughed and turned to face Hyunggu, leaning down so his mouth was brushing the shell of his ear. “More than ready,  _ Staff Sergeant  _ Kang Hyunggu,” he said, dropping his voice an octave. He was close enough to Hyunggu to feel him shiver at his words.

Yuto smirked and stepped around him, walking up to the fence and pushing on the planks he had been weakening this whole time. They moved easily and, thankfully, silently.

“Yuto, wait,” Hyunggu said, putting a hand on Yuto’s arm before he could step between the boards and out of the camp.

“Hmm?” Yuto turned around and felt Hyunggu tug on the sleeve of his shirt.

Okay what was happening? Yuto was lost now.

Hyunggu pulled Yuto closer, faster than Yuto could process what was going on, and put a hand on the back of his neck to pull him down. Hyunggu smashed his lips onto Yuto’s, sighing happily to himself as Yuto closed his eyes and kissed back, wrapping his arms around Hyunggu’s waist  to pull him closer.

Yuto had never liked a kiss this much before and he had had many kisses, trust him. He moved his lips against Hyunggu’s and only pulled away for a quick breath of air before pushing them together again.

They broke apart a few moments later and Yuto leaned his forehead against Hyunggu’s. They were both breathing heavily, and his lips felt like they’d be swollen from the kissing. God he loved that.

“What are you doing?” He whispered. He slowly opened his eyes when Hyunggu didn't answer and found him staring at him with that look again, so pure and in the open, and now Yuto knew what emotion it was. He smiled widely when he realised what it meant and realised, without a doubt, he had the same look in his own eyes. 

Hyunggu giggled lightly and pushed on Yuto’s shoulder. “I'm saving your life, dumby. I owe you. Now go, before I have to go with you,” Hyunggu said through a smile.

Yuto barked a laugh and looked around to make sure no one heard it before he leaned back in and kissed Hyunggu again.

“Thank you,” he whispered against his lips, “for everything.”

“Thank  _ you _ ,” Hyunggu said, pecking Yuto’s lips one last time, “for everything.”

Yuto smiled and pulled away. He had to leave or else the watch team would come and this whole thing could be ruined. He turned and stepped through the break in the wall, looking back at Hyunggu again and waving. Hyunggu lifted his hand in a wave and kept it there, smiling sadly as Yuto put the wood boards back. 

Before Yuto put the last board back, he stopped. “Maybe we’ll see each other again? After the war?”

Hyunggu chuckled and put his hands in his pockets as he shrugged. “If dreams came true, Mr Adachi…” he said, glancing up at the stars for a moment. 

“Let's hope they do, Mr Kang,” Yuto said with a sad smile of his own.

He put the board back and turned around. The nearest city was a couple miles south, he was pretty sure.

Yuto took a deep breath before he started running, hoping he was heading in the right direction and wishing he and Hyunggu would meet again.

Maybe some day.

………….

“Lieutenant General Yuto Adachi,” the president said. His voice was void of any emotion, giving away nothing and causing Yuto to shift uncomfortably in his spot. He didn't even look up from the form he was filling out.

Yuto had been called to the White House out of the blue yesterday morning and flown in from his apartment in New York. He was…. worried, to say the least.

“Lieutenant General, I assume you know why you're here?” The president said, finally looking up and meeting Yuto’s eyes.

“I presume it is about Project White, sir,” Yuto met the president's gaze with the confidence he had only because of his training.

The president nodded and hummed in affirmation. He looked back at the form and signed his name at the bottom before he stood up and walked around the desk. “Project White, as you know, was meant to be a one time experiment lasting only until we entered the war,” the president leaned casually on the desk and picked up the piece of paper. He was looking at it skeptically as he spoke. “Doctor Lee personally requested I speak with you about this…”

Yuto resisted the urge to widen his eyes in surprise. It was true, yes, Project White had been the government’s semi-successful attempt at a new war strategy while the country was still in isolation, but why would Lee Hwitaek mention his name to the president? He was the only successful member of the Project, yes, but his war crimes should have been enough to render him a failure.

“You seem surprised, Lieutenant General,” the president said, looking at Yuto mildly amused.

“I-” Yuto had to cleared his throat, “Yes, sir. I admit I am.”

The president chuckled and waved the paper around. “Well, don’t worry… too much…”

Yuto’s eyebrows scrunched in confusion and his heartbeat quickened. If the president decided he was unfit to remain in the military, ten years after the war, then he’d be sent back to Japan and probably court martialed. It wouldn’t be good, especially since Yuto was seen as a traitor to the Empire there.

“Lieutenant General, you were the most successful part of Project White and gained yourself the nickname The White Death. You infiltrated the Japanese military and successfully acted as a spy for the Allies. You maintained your cover even when you were captured by American troops and held in a POW camp for two months. And... you have been nominated for a Medal of Honour by Doctor Lee and myself,” the president said proudly. He smiled when Yuto’s mask of indifference broke and his eyes widened while his jaw dropped.

Yuto couldn’t believe it. He couldn’t process it. This was like when Yuta, who was also a part of Project White, was killed by that incredible soldier Yuto would never forget about, but so much better and happier. Okay, it was nothing like that, but still.

“But… Lieutenant General, I also regret to inform you…” Yuto’s heart suddenly sank from it’s excitement as the president pushed himself off his desk and walked the paper over to Yuto. “... that your accomplishments have been neglected by the Japanese government, and you are no longer welcome back into the country, or considered a citizen…” the president said solemnly. He handed the paper to Yuto and stepped back.

It was a letter of acknowledgement to Japan from the president, recognising their decision, but pointedly accepting Yuto as a war hero amongst the American people. Yuto wasn’t sure how to feel about this, he was flattered and honored yes, but he could never go home now. He was stuck in America.

“I understand you must be feeling very uneasy about this, but trust me when I say we are honoured to have you as a member of our country. We wouldn’t have won the war without you or the men who sacrificed their lives in the name of freedom,” the president said kindly, he was smiling at Yuto as if he were watching his son and yeah, it was kind of weird, but Yuto was grateful for his support.

“Thank you, Mr President,” Yuto managed to say quietly. He wasn’t entirely sure what was going on anymore, and he needed a drink. A  _ strong _ drink.

The president nodded and patted Yuto on the shoulder, then he turned around to go back behind his desk. He shifted through some of the documents laying there as he began to speak again, “I also received a message from the Korean embassy requesting information on you. The ambassador claims he knew you and would like confirmation on whether you are alive or not. Do you know a Yang Hongseok?”

Yuto gasped on the inside- he already broke his soldier facade once in front of the president, he wouldn’t do it again. Instead he said, “Yes, sir. He was with the soldiers who captured me and took care of me in the POW camp. He was one of the only kind ones to me, sir.” 

_ But he isn’t the one I want to see again, _ Yuto thought. He’d wanted to see the attractive soldier again since the war had ended ten years ago, he wanted to know if he’d made it home, if he was happy and living well with a family and a nice house.

“Ah, then I suppose I should allow him level one clearance to your records?” The president asked. He picked up a blank piece of paper and sat down as he pulled out a pen. He held it at the ready, waiting for Yuto’s permission.

“A-actually, Mr President…” Yuto stopped him. The president raised an eyebrow and lowered his pen, looking up at Yuto expectantly. “May I request permission to speak with him personally? I would like to thank him for showing me kindness and helping me escape the camp.”

Yuto winced at his slip-up. Right, that was at least strike eighteen against his record. Even if he  _ had  _ been in deep cover and an ally to the country, he’d still  _ technically _ been an enemy and labeled a fugitive for escaping the camp. It was one part of his career that was not meant to be mentioned in front of the president.

However, the president simply chuckled and wrote on the document anyway. “I will allow him level one clearance to your file  _ and _ make a note you would like him to contact you, how does that sound?” The president said. He signed his name, put the pen down, and handed the document off to a secretary for delivery. “Now, Lieutenant General Adachi, I believe that is all from me. You will be contacted about the Medal of Honor and hopefully by Ambassador Yang Hongseok soon.”

The president stood up and began to walk Yuto to the door of the Oval Office. Yuto caught himself beginning to bow and brought up his hand in a solute instead, “Thank you, Mr President.”

The president hummed and patted him on the back as they reached the door held open by a secret service man. “Thank you for your service, Lieutenant General. Have a nice day,” he said kindly. Yuto nodded and stepped out of the office. 

He felt his shoulders sag tiredly as the door closed and he was alone in the hallway with two other secret service men. He put his uniform cap on and patted the left guard on the shoulder. 

“Keep up the good work, boys. Protect that man,” he said, pointing at the closed office door. He turned and walked off, his stomach churning with a mix of emotions.

That was quite an eventful visit with the president.

But not nearly as eventful as Yuto’s meeting with Hongseok. Ten years, eight months, and four days after Yuto escaped that camp.

Yes, Yuto was counting. No, not because it was also the last time he’d seen the soldier he still dreamed about (don’t judge him), but because it had happened exactly two weeks before the bomb was dropped and the war ended.

He missed the soldier but he didn’t miss him that much, come on.

“So… did Hyunggu make it?” He ignored the part of him that cringed at his forwardness and tried not to think about the drip of pride he felt slip away.

Hongseok raised an eyebrow and smirked, unfolding the napkin he’d been given by the waitress to put on his lap. “We say three things to each other after ten years and that’s the first thing you ask me?”

Yuto smiled apologetically and buried his face in the menu in an attempt to hide his blush. He fucked up, and he hated himself. But he was itching to know.

“Yeah, he made it...” Hongseok said quietly. Yuto looked up because there was something in his voice, he was smiling and looking at Yuto happily but he sounded almost…. sad.

Ah shit.

“Something happened to him, huh?” Yuto asked, his voice was shaking slightly out of fear of the answer. Hongseok pursed his lips, and his eyes darted around uncomfortably. He was avoiding the answer. “Hongseok-hyung...” Yuto warned.

Hongseok sighed and finally met his gaze. His eyes steeled as he picked up the menu to scan it. “Why don’t you tell me why you’re suddenly fluent in english, pardoned by the _president_ _of the United States_ , and nominated for a Medal of Honor instead, hmm?” Hongseok said icily. The atmosphere between them shifted and became tense. Yuto almost glared at him.

“That’s above your clearance level, isn’t it?” He said, staring at Hongseok until he glanced up from the menu to hold Yuto’s eyes.

“I was given your entire file, actually. Parts of it were filled in, other parts were gibberish, but a majority of it was faked,” Hongseok said. He looked back down at the menu and casually perused the options, as if he wasn’t accusing Yuto.

Yuto chuckled, Hongseok sure was an observant one to notice most of Yuto’s file wasn’t real. “You’re pretty smart, Hongseok-hyung,” he muttered.

Hongseok breathed a chuckle as the waitress came over to take their orders. Once she was gone with the menus, he leaned forward and looked Yuto dead in the eye. “If I tell you about Hyunggu, you’ll tell me about yourself, yeah?”

Yuto squinted and considered Hongseok. His anxious heart screamed yes, but his more rational side was skeptical of telling Hongseok about one of the government's biggest secret operations.

“I’ll tell you what I can,” he said. He really hoped this wouldn’t come back to bite him in the ass but last time he’d hoped that about letting Hyunggu live, he ended up making out with the guy. And his brother ended up getting shot, but minor details.

Hongseok beamed and leaned back, crossing his arms as he motioned for Yuto to begin.

Yuto briefly described the White Project, keeping it simple and basic. When rumors of a war brewing in Europe and Eastern Asia reached America, he was selected at a young age as one of twelve Japanese and German men to be taken from their home countries and brought to America for training, learning all the major languages and all styles of fighting. He neglected to mention Doctor Lee Hwitaek’s experiment with the an enhancing drug to create a Captain America-esque super soldier. After eight years he was sent back to Japan, where he enlisted in the military and joined the war. From there he rose through the ranks, gaining the respect of all the Japanese officials, getting close with the emperor and becoming a personal trustee. 

He finished by telling Hongseok he was one of the only members of Project White to maintain his cover and live through the war. He left out the part of being a spy, feeding the American government any information he felt important, including the crapulent general’s blatant disregard of regulation.

Hongseok was silent for a few minutes, long enough for the waitress to bring them their food and leave, before he opened his mouth. “So you understood everything we were saying about you back during the war?” He asked sheepishly.

Yuto barked a laugh and nodded. Out of all the things Hongseok could have said, that was what he was most concerned about? He started to eat, still chuckling slightly. “Don't worry, I heard worse.”

Hongseok smiled apologetically and stabbed his fork into the food on his plate. He took a deep breath, as if weighing his next questioning before looking Yuto dead in the eye and quietly saying, “Hyunggu used to always beat himself up for killing your brother…. was he apart of the Project?”

Yuto didn't answer at first, choosing instead to take a bite of his food before he responded. “Yuta wasn't my brother by blood. He…. he was the son of the woman who took care of me after my parents died of disease. When we were chosen as participants by the US government, everyone used to confuse us with each other, not just because of our names or race, but because we were inseparable…” he faded off with a shaky breath. He hated talking about his past. He hated talking about Yuta. All it did was remind him of what he'd been forced to do during the war, and the people he'd been forced to kill. Hongseok didn't push any further, thankfully.

“Hyunggu’s been in a home for the past five years…” Hongseok suddenly said quietly. He was bringing up his end of the deal, but Yuto wasn’t happy about it. He was already emotionally unstable from talking about his childhood, he couldn't take much more in one day.

He put his fork down slowly, his appetite gone. “He’s gone, isn’t he?” He asked hesitantly. Most of the veterans living in a home had something missing, a part of them not there, as if their bodies had returned home, but their minds had stayed in the war.

Hongseok put his fork down too and looked at Yuto sadly. “Not entirely, just a little…. shell shocked….. I try to visit him every few weeks, or whenever I get a break from work, but sometimes he doesn’t want to talk to me. He just sits by the window of his room and stares,” Hongseok sighed and shrugged.

“Where is he? Is he in DC?” Yuto asked around the lump forming in his throat. Hyunggu was alive, shell-shocked, but alive nonetheless.

Hongseok nodded and offered to send Yuto the address and visiting hours, to which Yuto graciously accepted. They changed the topic after that. Yuto found his heart feeling lighter than it had in years, only a small ball of anxiety whirling around his stomach now.

The ball was still there when he was standing across the street from the address Hongseok had given him. It was a large house that looked nothing like a hospital for veterans struggling to process the war, and Yuto was more scared of it’s looming facade than of seeing Hyunggu again.

_ Seeing Hyunggu again _ . He couldn’t believe it. He couldn’t believe a lot of things lately, it was all happening so fast, after ten years of drinking the days away.

Yuto took a deep breath and put on his soldier act as he crossed the street. 

“Excuse me,” he said to the young woman behind the desk in the main room, taking his cap off respectfully. She looked up from the paper she was writing on and smiled.

“Hello, sir,” she scanned her eyes across his uniform, and Yuto saw the exact moment she realised what he was doing there on her face. Wordlessly, she turned around to grab a book from the shelf behind her and opened it as she handed it over with a soft smile. “Write your name and title here, the person you are visiting here, and your reason for visit here,” she said sweetly as she pointed to the columns while Yuto wrote along.

When he was finished, he handed the book back as the girl called for a nurse to take him to Kang Hyunggu.

“Were you two in the same regiment, sir?” the nurse inquired as she led Yuto through a maze of hallways to a set of stairs.

“Something like that,” Yuto said as they climbed up. The nurse hummed thoughtfully.

“Well, Sergeant Kang is one of our best patients. He’s always smiling and greeting us on the good mornings, but even then there’s a sort of sadness to his eyes,  _ and _ when Sergeant Yang comes to visit. Do you know Sergeant Yang?” She said as they turned down yet another hallway.

Yuto nodded and gripped his cap tightly to stop his hands from shaking. After a few moments, he gathered enough courage to ask the one question Hongseok had refused to answer. “U-umm, if it’s not too much to ask, why is Sergeant Kang here?”

The nurse’s resulting laugh twinkled around them in the hallway as they passed door after door with patient names written on them. “I'm not supposed to tell you this but you're cute, so you didn't hear it from me,” she said lightly, winking at him over her shoulder. “He doesn’t talk much about it, but based off what little I’ve heard him say to Doctor Yeo, he suffered a bad beating from the general in charge of the POW camp he was stationed at towards the end of the war. The general had accused him of assisting a prisoner to escape and of being a traitor. Apparently the general didn't want to stop until Sergeant Yang stepped in and prevented him from beating Sergeant Kang to death,” the nurse said. Her tone had become solemn, quiet by the time she’d finished and Yuto felt his heart break.

Oh god, he felt horrible now. Hyunggu went through all that after helping him escape, after repaying him for all the times Yuto’d let him live, after saving Yuto’s life himself.

Yuto took slow, deep breaths to keep the tears from building up in his eyes. Hyunggu had been accused of the same thing his father had been killed for. But he wasn’t a traitor, he was so much more than that. If anything, he should be considered a hero for helping Yuto live.

“Here we are,” The nurse said chipperly, stopping next to the door at the very end of the hall. “Let me just tell him someone’s here to see him really quick,” she whispered. Yuto nodded and she knocked softly before she slowly opened the door.

Yuto took deep breaths, his heart was racing and he felt like he was going to throw up. Would Hyunggu recognise him? Would he be happy to see him after all these years, or would he hate him for being the reason the general inflicted so much pain upon him?

“You can go in, he’s just sitting in the corner,” the nurse broke Yuto out of his worrying. She paused before opening the door wider and turned to him. “He's having a rough day today, so he might not speak at all,” she whispered quietly, then she moved, pulling the door open for him to enter. “I’ll leave you two alone now, don’t forget to sign out when you leave,” she said in a normal voice, and walked away once Yuto nodded.

Yuto took a deep breath, readjusting his grip on his cap. He was going to have to iron it at home.

Slowly, hesitantly, he stepped around the door into the small room, looking around for Hyunggu. He didn’t see him at first, the bed was empty and untouched, but then there he was, sitting in the protruding window sill with his arms propped up on his folded knees, looking out at the city with that thousand yard stare. Yuto’s heart broke even more at the sight.

He was alive, though. He was here. Yuto had found him after so long. So many years of waking up from dreams where Hyunggu saved his life all over again. So many years of Yuto turning to alcohol to finally forget about the soldier he couldn’t kill, but waking up to the feel of lingering lips. So many years of Yuto denying his feeling for the soldier who killed his brother.

Hyunggu hadn’t noticed him yet, so Yuto stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do. After a few moments, he took a deep breath and cleared his throat. Hyunggu stirred slightly, blinking slowly, darting his tongue out to wet his dry lips.

He slowly turned his head. Yuto felt the whole world stop, Hyunggu looked at him with a blank expression, his previously expressive eyes lifeless. Yuto’s heart was racing, and he felt tears begin to fall from his eyes because Hyunggu didn’t recognise him, and maybe Yuto really  _ was _ in love with him because everything felt pointless now. He held back a sob and put his head down, gripping his cap impossibly tighter as the reality of Hyunggu being gone forever hit him in full.

Then something changed, Yuto didn’t notice it at first through his muffled tears but the atmosphere in the room shifted.

“Yuto,” Hyunggu whispered, so quietly Yuto thought he’d imagined it. He wiped at his eyes and looked up as he sniffed. A gasp escaping his lips when he met Hyunggu’s deep eyes, suddenly full of life and emotion, so much emotion. “Yuto,” he whispered again.

Yuto felt a wave of relief run through him, lifting up his heart from where it had broken almost completely and making him smile. He breathed a laugh and nodded, “Yeah, it’s me, Hyunggu.”

“Yuto,” Hyunggu whispered breathily as life and awareness flushed through his face as if his brain was slowly turning back on. He pushed himself off the windowsill and rushed toward Yuto, throwing himself at him and wrapping his arms tightly around Yuto’s chest.

Yuto laughed happily and wrapped his own arms around Hyunggu, pulling him as close and he could. He felt a fresh wave of tears fall from his eyes, but they were happy, so so happy.

God he was so happy. Hyunggu remembered him, Hyunggu was alive and remembered him.

Yuto turned his head to bury his nose in Hyunggu’s soft dark hair. He smelled like home and even though Yuto didn’t know why, he felt like everything was okay now, like everything was going to be okay. Because he found Hyunggu. Ten years, eight months, and thirty days and he finally found the soldier he was undeniably in love with.

“Are you really alive?” he heard Hyunggu whisper into his chest. Yuto nodded against the top of his head and chuckled lightly.

“Of course I’m alive, you think some silly ol’ war is gonna take me down?” He teased. He felt Hyunggu grip onto his uniform jacket tightly.

Hyunggu pulled his head away to look Yuto in the eye, pain and relief being only two of the emotions Yuto could identify. “General Curtis told me they’d caught you and you were executed….”

Yuto felt the pieces fit together as Hyunggu’s eyes filled with tears and he buried his face back into Yuto’s chest. Hyunggu started to shake with sobs, squeezing Yuto tightly and all Yuto could do was hold him, rubbing his back and arms while whispering in Hyunggu’s ear. “I’m okay…. I’m alive…. I’m here now…. He lied to you…. Everything is okay now….”

Hyunggu calmed down a few minutes later and sniffed as he rubbed his face against Yuto’s chest.

“You okay?” Yuto whispered when Hyunggu fell silent. He nuzzled the hair above Hyunggu’s ear and squeezed him lightly in his arms.

Hyunggu sniffed again and looked up at Yuto. He giggled lightly and said, “What took you so long? Ten years and not even a letter? That’s no way to treat the man who saved your life.”

Yuto’s heart rejoiced at the sound of Hyunggu teasing him again. Fuck, he’d missed him.

“If I recall correctly, I saved your life  _ twice _ , mister,” Yuto said, grin widening when Hyunggu’s own grin graced his lips.

That look was back on his face and Yuto felt himself reciprocate it, officially giving up on denying it anymore. He was in love with Hyunggu, and judging by the way Hyunggu slowly leaned up to softly touch his lips to Yuto’s, it wasn’t unrequited.

He would still be surprised by it sometimes, though. Even three years later, when Hyunggu was deemed fit for society again, seemingly miraculously better with the return of “an old friend”, as Doctor Yeo said in his official report, and released from the hospital to live with Yuto in his new apartment in downtown DC. Sometimes, Yuto would wake up, half expecting to be back in his bed in New York with an empty bottle of vodka next to him rather than in Washington DC with a sleepy Hyunggu snuggled in his arms. He’d get home after work, and still feel his heart jump when he saw Hyunggu sitting on their couch, lazily listening to the radio or reading a book. He’d sleepily stumble into the shower in the morning and jump in surprise when Hyunggu decided to join him, wrapping his arms around him from behind. He’d feel all the love and emotions he felt for Hyunggu boil up to almost unmanageable when they heatedly moved against each other in their bed at an odd hour of the morning. He felt it when Hyunggu nodded understandingly as he told him his past, and instead of thinking of Yuto differently, exclaimed how awesome he was. 

And he felt it now, especially, the disbelief and aww of having Hyunggu in his arms fourteen years after they'd first met, leaning against him on the couch with the radio playing softly in the corner. 

“I love you,” he whispered into Hyunggu’s hair. Hyunggu breathed a laugh and rubbed his hand up Yuto’s side to rest on his chest. 

“I know,” he said. “I love you more.”

Yuto smiled happily and placed a kiss on the top of Hyunggu’s head. He was glad he hadn’t killed this soldier almost fourteen years ago, even if it did bite him in the ass in more ways the one.


End file.
